Put It In Reverse

Yesterday, we did a simple project,

building an Adirondack bench from a kit.

The "simple project" turned out to be a ridiculously complex epic undertaking,

 spanning several hours

and ending with an on-the-fly assembly at the store

in the most ludicrous fashion imaginable.

It was like starting a fire by rubbing two cats together.

There's going to be a dead mouse in my shoe later, isn't there?

While hugs slays and places my punishment, let's make some reverse stencils.

Big ones.

Regular stencils have space where your design is.

You paint in the design.

Reverse stencils form the shape by painting the area around it.

And this is just what we need for our next creation.

Ever had trouble finding the exact motif you wanted for a project?

Quit looking and make it yourself.

 First, scour the interwebs for a suitable image.

Since I'm looking for tropical leaves, this worked for me.

 You, of course, can find bunnies, trefoils, toile, or whatever you normal people with

good taste tend to use.

I have no clue.

You've seen my house.

Take the images and increase them to the size you'd like,

then print and cut them out.

 Now for the real fun.

Using a roll of contact paper (which is also now available at the Dollar Tree),

trace your shapes on the paper side.

How many should you do?

That depends on what you're making.

I've done this for YEARS, for everything from notebooks to furniture

to T-shirts to pillows to decorative room borders.

It's custom, easy, super cheap, and a lot more interesting than perfectly repeating stencils.

I use clear contact paper to make placement a sure-footed exercise.

 You can also get completely weird and haul in things from the yard.

 This is fun.

This is natural and cool, giving you a neat, varied look.

This is organic.

 This is great if you don't have a printer.

This is easy, with great results.

This is...

 ...not something teenagers consistently enjoy helping with.

 Two words, Minions:

Ghirardelli Brownies.

Now trace those fronds and cut them out.

 Before you know it, you'll have a pile of

shapes to work with.

 Now, as far as what we're going to do with these,

first, the fronds are going in water.

Second, I'm lighting some bamboo jasmine candles and pouring a 

Crystal Light Appletini

(After five of these, only the hot guys are still hot).

We'll do practical application tomorrow.

Why, you may ask, my virtual BFFs?

Because this was the view from the front seat of my minivan,

Marathon, this afternoon.

Please wish her a speedy recovery.

I'll be sulking on the chaise.

There's glasses in the cupboard if you'd like to join me.